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A Bacteroides gingivalis adhesin mediating attachment to red blood cells and buccal epithelial cells was isolated, cloned and characterized. The isolation procedure involved gentle stirring of the cells followed by ammonium sulphate precipitation, ion-exchange and gel chromatography. The native molecule had a Mr in excess of 10⁶ kDa and was made up of subunits with an Mr of 43 kDa. Antisera raised to the adhesin and its subunits reacted with antigens on the surface of B. gingivalis cells. No reaction with fimbriae was seen. The IgG fractions from these antisera inhibited the adherence of B. gingivalis to host tissue. Proteolytic enzymes destroyed binding capability of whole cells and of the purified adhesin but the molecular weight of the haemagglutinin was not altered.
A genomic library of B. gingivalis DNA was created in E. coli JM83. 5500 colonies were screened by a colony immunoassay with anti-S. gingivalis serum and by a direct haemagglutinating assay. 337 clones tested positive by the immunoassay and two clones, 1-3,and 1-49 tested positive for haemagglutinating activity. Both haemagglutinating positive recombinants had inserts of 3.2 kb. One clone, 1-49 was chosen for further characterization. E. coli 1-49 expressed a protein of 43 kDa that was not present in E. coli JM 83 control as seen by SDS-PAGE and Western blot analysis. Anti-1-49 serum inhibited the haemagglutinating activity of B. gingivalis and E. coli 1-49. This serum reacted with surface molecules on B. gingivalis and E. coli 1-49 as seen by immunogold electron microscopy and immunofluorescence, and to the purified haemagglutinin by Western blot analysis. Like the haemagglutinin on B. gingivalis, the haemagglutinating activity of E. coli 1-49 was destroyed by heating and proteolytic enzymes but the apparent size of the molecule as determined by SDS-PAGE was not affected.
A bacterial coaggregating adhesin from B. gingivalis was isolated and characterized.
The isolation procedure involved adsorption of the solubilized adhesin on S. mitis followed by elution with glycine buffer. SDS-PAGE of the boiled adhesin revealed a protein with an Mr of 46 kDa. Proteolytic digestion destroyed all bacterial aggregating activity and hydrolysed the 46 kd protein. Antisera raised to the 46 kDa protein reacted with surface molecules on all strains of B. gingivalis tested. This antiserum inhibited the coaggregation reaction between B. gingivalis and other bacteria.
Vesicles produced by B. gingivalis were found to enhance the binding of S. sanguis to serum coated hydroxy apatite (SeHA). Maximum vesicle mediated binding took place at 37°C and was destroyed by heating.
The lipopolysaccharide from several black pigmented bacteroides were isolated and characterized physically, chemically and immunologically. All of the LPS were of the smooth type and contained the sugars rhamnose, glucose, galactose, glucosamine and galactosamine; no KDO or heptose were found.

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